Presentation #336.01 in the session “Collaboration with Integrity: Partnerships with Indigenous Communities in the Americas and Polynesia”.
The Sun, Moon, planets, and stars have accompanied sky watchers over millennia. The Pleiades star cluster, observable from every continent except Antarctica, is tied to indigenous worldviews, astronomy, calendaring, traditional weaving, weather prediction, and agriculture. For the original peoples of Polynesia, Mesoamerica, and the Andes, the Pleiades cluster continues to be a source of knowledge, both culturally and scientifically. Due to native language loss and globalization, the knowledge is eroding at a fast pace. We will describe a Fulbright US Global Scholar project and emerging results from collaborative research conducted in ancestral lands with indigenous elders, young adults, and academics, as well as with other knowledge holders in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Guatemala, and Peru. Results are being shared locally for the benefit the host communities and future generations of indigenous astronomers. For more information, please see the Website: 7adelfes.org